teelack

Good point and one that I wonder about as well. The poor staff must smell like ash trays by the end of the nights and the state of their lungs; well i hate to think.

Its just as easy to say no thanks or meow khrap.

Last time I used the bus from Patts to Swampy the big bus took 85 minutes. Cabs will save you 10 minutes. I agree that you can go round the houses a bit getting to your hotel but hey, its a free tour of places you might like to stay at in the future.

Great formula however in the end analysis its what YOU want to pay and what YOU can afford. I know exactly what I will pay and what I wont and this makes trawling the clubs very easy. I was in a well known club some weeks ago and a cutie and I shared a drink. When the subject came to bar fines etc I asked her how much she wanted for LT. She in turn asked me how much I would pay. Ha ha, says she and I was about 1000 baht out. Now I am realistic to know that in addition to the fact that my offer may have been less than she wanted I am also old and wrinkled and I guess I was penalised for this in her price. No problems, no issues, and good knowledge for a mere lady drink. The one thing that I have learned is that if you are older, or bigger and possible less attractive, its the girl that has to want you as much as the other way around. If she doesnt, then your in for a miserable night.

A bit off thread but last month when there was a bar closure the Sabai group did not have any alcohol on sale either. I took a walk up the Naklua Road and there was all the booze in the world for sale up there.

Errrrrrrrrrrrr. Not Bazle. Teeack!

LOL well I fucked that one up!

Gary. Can you let us know about Calibre please. Sounds interesting.

Jacko, whilst I agree with the freedom thing remember that if I chose not to smoke it affects no one but on the other hand, smokers in an enclosed space affect everyone. I think that its also fair to say that people smoke more in Pattaya than at home due to the cheapness of smokes. I can live with it but if the guy next to you moves away or moves the ashtray from under his nose to under yours, dont get pissed. Its only a non smoker looking for some clean air. I have in fact been threatened for doing this which further bothers me and one guy thew a punch at the Office and the whole issue had to be sorted by security. You are right in that I also believe that more girls are smoking than in the past but then its reasonably well known that as the West winds down its smokers the tobacco companies are targetting Asia and Africa. This is so sad as I would doubt that even the most hardened smoker would not agree that this is becoming more anti-social, more expensive and is certainly a heath hazzard. Remember that one of the steps that Martin has had to adopt in order to improve his future health is to quit smoking so this is not just a publicity campaign, but a real life and death decision. The one thing that I think is also a fact of life is that its only a matter of time before clubs etc in Thailand will have to start complying with a law that has been on the books for some years. Anyway, carry on smoking as curry eaters like me will carry on farting and making horrible smells. :bhappy

My suggestion is as follows. Try out the free books and also the free first chapters of best sellers. The reason that I say this is that you will either love it or just cant be bothered and you might as well find out for free. I got one at Xmas but really enjoy the book experience and have used it little. Having said all that, if you are an avid reader you can get books for a fraction of the price of the newly published version and long before they are either in the shops or public library.

Ditto. The sooner its outlawed the better. As for Champagne, not only is there smoking but they might also have the worst smoke extraction system in Pattaya.

The odd free beer goes a long way Phil!

Phil seems a good choice to me and was a good host when I was recently there.

I expect that a lot of guys will 'head down' and have an experience that will 'take a lot of licking' Missing it would be a real blow!.

I checked this out a while ago. I put Airport Accommodation into Google and there were plenty of places in the area that have free pick up and drop off.

I had a look around last month and formed the same opinion.

Thanks for al your comments guys. Heres an up date. I still enjoy the phone but the issue is that my main telecom provider at home sim does not work at home. I also have a sim with Vodaphone and that does work fine as does the 1-2 Call sim. So there you have it. Its only half useful. Just a side issue and that is that whilst I agree about having a good camera in phone as being useful I can now buy something top brand for say 2500 baht with Zoom, flash and 14 mp. I like a real camera and therefore having one in phone is not so important. Bottom line. Was it worth it? Hell yes, it got me over the gap in my brain that said that an old bastard like me could never work one. I can and do and its sitting there for my next trip overseas.

Hi there Scott. It looks like you have cracked it (horrible expression but...) Keep it all going as I am counting the days till June and I can claim another free ale!

I was advised that Mr T's cabs were kept up to date on late and early flight arrivals by computer. Whatever I have been both late and early and have had no issues. And for the boardie that does not think its important for the driver to know his way around. This is OK if you know, but for a newbie it could be a nightmare. Take the Eastiny or Sabai groups with a lot of places spread out. I have met Pattaya cabbies that screwed this lot up and I didnt have cases to hump around.

I just cant see why anyone would pay 1500 baht for a metered cab whos driver may not even know Pattaya rather than ordering a Mr T (or similar) for 1000B and who's guys know the place.

I think that people need to see the X Zone as a multi purpose place rather than a gyno outfit. Like Basle I have met Phil and hes a good operator. I like the place because it serves good beer, draught that is. I can name some places in Pattaya where the draught is always putrid but to be honest I have never had a bad one here. The girls do change a bit and this is no different from any other go go but there are often some cuties here. Sure, like other places there are dragons as well. This place is a good one for just kicking back or in fact having a raunchy night or even just people watching ( go on admit it-we all do it!). Both Nev and Phil have done more (IMHO) than any other bar owners in Pattaya to get things right and have answered hundreds of questions and tried to adapt the place to their clients needs and the turn out that I saw shows that they are generally succeeding.

...and Goballs had no balls at all!

Hardly the same phone as this has a querty keyboard which is not predictive. As I say, this has been for me a great introduction. I am a technical Luddite and needed the confidence to move on and this is what I have gained. I can afford to lose out on 2200 baht but not 22000 so the trial run has given me a lot of confidence. As I say, this is IMHO still a reasonable phone for simple calls and SMS and because of the size of keys is fine for me. The only reason that I started the thread was to either encourage others or to warn them and people can take out of it what they want.

Not at all. I got what I paid for and to be honest other than the unlock situation it is a really good phone and well worth the 2200 baht. I also know that the twin sim works fine and that will be great for travel. The point is that I now have the confidence to pay say 15000 baht equivalent for a quality version and still have this one as a back up.

Thanks Monty. Unlike Jacko I love the bloody thing but unless I can get it unlocked at a reasonable price I might as well ditch it and get a new one. By the way reference the camera. Even at the highest resolution and quality it looks as if its only about 1 megapixel, say 150 KB. Bugger but this is something that I wish I had known as it is something that you can check in store before you buy. The camara is rated at 8 MP and thats what I thought I was getting.